Chronic hepatitis C is one of the most common chronic viral infections of humans and a major cause of chronic liver disease, cirrhosis and liver cancer. Still about 4 million new infections occur world-wide each year with 50-85% of patients progressing to chronic hepatitis C. Currently there is no marker to predict spontaneous viral clearance and to guide treatment decisions.

The major objectives of the HepaCute proposal are to develop biomarkers predicting the outcome of acute hepatitis C, improving the management of the related patients and thus decreasing the health burden of hepatitis C in Europe and Mediterranean partner countries (MPC).

The HepaCute consortium has evolved from a series of EC-funded projects on hepatitis C (HCVacc/HepCvax/Virgil/HEPACIVAC) and consists of world leading experts in HCV epidemiology, immunology, and virology, including partners from Egypt and Morocco, who have strongly influenced the current management of patients with acute hepatitis C in their respective regions, and contributed considerably to our understanding of mechanisms of spontaneous viral clearance.

The HepaCute proposal is closely connected to ongoing national, European, and Egyptian networks on HCV research (HepNet, EASL, STDF), which will support HepaCute to make it a success.Together with another pertinent EU-funded research project, SPHINX, it actively contributes to coordinating EU-funded hepatitis C research with pertinent research projects funded in the MCP countries, in particular with hepatitis research projects funded under the Egyptian Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF).

Within HepaCute the most innovative technologies will be employed such as genome-wide association studies, transcriptomics, proteomics, and ultra-deep sequencing to better understand the early events in acute hepatitis C and to translate these results into readily practicable diagnostic tools to predict spontaneous viral clearance. HepaCute has firmly integrated partners from Egypt and Morocco with preexisting research collaborations with European partners into the scientific research programm and we expect this continuing partnership between European and Mediterranean countries to have a strong impact on the care of patients with acute hepatitis C both in Europe and MPC.